Apparatus for cleaning crankshafts



Aprii 22, 1941. F. c. AREY EFAL APPARATUS FOR CLEANING CRANKSHAFTS FiledAug 21, 1939 7 Sheets-Sheet 1 April 22, 1941. F. c. AREY rm.

ABPARAIUS fOR CLEANING .QRA NKSHAI'TS Filed Aug. 21, 1939 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 April 22,1941. F. c. ARE Y ETAL APPARATUS FOR CLEANING CRANKSHAFTS,7 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Aug. 21, 1939 April 22, 1941. F. c. AREY ETALAPPARATUS FOR CLEANING CRANKSHAFTS Filed Aug. 21, 1939 '7 Sheets-Sheet 4April 1941- F. c. AREY ETAL APPARATUS FOR CLEANING CRANKSHAFTS 7Sheets-Sheet 5 6 as. A4

Filed Aug. 21, 1939 April F. c. AREY 'ETAL APPARATUS FORCLEANING-CRANKSHAPTS Filed Aug. '21, 1939 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 April 22,1941. F. c. AREY ETAL APPARATUS f0! CLEANING CRANKSH APTS 7 She ets-Sheet 7 Filed Aug. 21', 1939 Patented Apr. 22, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE APPARATUS FOR CLEANING CRANKSHAFTS Fred 0. Any, Freeport, and DeLos E. Hibner, Du Bois, Pa assiniors to Vulcan Soot Blower Corporation,a corporation of Pennsylvania Application August 2 1, 1939, Serial No.291,128

"i'Claims.

for its object to modify the apparatus of the aforesaid application insuch a manner as to permit the cleaning of crankshafts.

As in the aforesaid application, the present apparatus includes a cagein which the work is held and rotated while being subjected to theaction of jets of cleaning fluids in a manner to accomplish the intendedresults. One of the objects of the present invention is to produce a thecage in a work-receiving position; Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 8,showing the cage turned through an angle of 270 in the counter-clockwisedirection from the position illustrated in Fig. 8; Fig. 10 is a sectiontaken on line ill-ill of either Fig. 4 or Fig. 11; and Fig. 11 is asection on line ll-ll ofFig. 10.

Referring to the drawings, 1 represents a housing having at the frontend a vertically slidable door 2 through which the work is inserted andremoved. In front of the housing is'a horizontal platform 3 having acentral section 4, which will be referred to as the receiving table,which is movable back and forth into and out of the door opening. Inrear of the casing is a second platnovel form of cage, together with-means for form Toii'wlii'ch are supported the operating controlling theflow of fluids entering oil passages after jets of fluid have enteredthe latter.

The present apparatus also includes a receiving platform or table justoutside of the doorway through which the work is introduced into thehousing that contains the supporting cage. A further object of thepresent invention is to provide a novel form of receiving platform ortable to facilitate the entry of the more or less un- 5 wieldy crankshafts into the cage.

The various features of novelty whereby our invention is characterizedwill hereinafter be pointed outwith particularity in the claims; but, Ifor a full understanding of our invention and of its objects andadvantages, reference may be had to the following detailed descriptiontaken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of an apparatus embodying the presentinvention; Fig. 2 is an elevational view showing, on a larger scale, aportion of the front end of the apparatus, with the door of the housingopen; Fig. 3 is a detail view showing the roller support for the frontend ofthe work-supporting cage; Fig. 4 is a top'plan view, on the samescale as Fig. 2, of the receiving table, a fragment of the front end ofthe housins being shown in section; Fig. 5 isa top plan view of the rearportion of the apparatus, showdistributed alongthis axis; the forwardrin'g being the rear end of the housing and the parts behind the latterFig. 6 is a vertical longitudinal section through the housing, thework-supporting cage being shown partly in section, and a crank shaftbeing shown in elevation within the cage;

Fig. 7 is a horizontal section through therhousing, the cage and itscontents being shown in plan, and the receiving table being shown indotted lines as pushed into. the housing: F18. a

motor and the controllingmechanism. The door is intended to be raisedand lowered by means of a piston ina vertical cylinder 6 mounted on topof the casing; the entire operating and controlling mechanism being,therefore, electropneumatio, as in the aforesaid application. Within thehousing, above the level of the receiving table, is a long horizontalcage open at the front end; the cage being supported at its rear endupon a tubular shaft or journal 7 extending through the rear wall of thehousing. This shaft is supplied alternately with a cleaning liquid,which may be soda water, kerosene, or other suitable cleaning liquid,and with air under pressure; these two fluids being supplied throughlarge pipes or mains 8 and 9 arranged above the rear platform 5. Theshaft 1 is adapted to be driven by a suitable motor ill, mounted-on therear platform; the motor simultaneously driving suitable controlmechanism to operate the valves in the supply pipes or mains 8 and 9. Asin the aforesaid application, a cycle of operations is started by theoperation of a valve below the receiving table; the valve being providedwith a pedal II that is pressed down by the workmans foot.

The cage comprises a number of vertical ringlike members I! and I4,lying in planes at right angles to the axis of the shaft 'LeXtended, and

log provided with a wide rim l5. ,Fixed'to the forward end of the shortshaft or journal. I is a disk l8 parallel to the rings. A number ofrigid longitudinal members, conveniently pieces of structural steel,extend from this disk through the rings, being fixed to both the diskand the rings so as to tie the whole into a rigid, cage-like structure.

dinal members depend upon the character of crankshaft to bewashed. Inthe arrangenientshown, the crankshaft is provided with four cranks and,therefore, the longitudinal members are arranged in one or more groupsof four; there being four angle irons I1 spaced90 apart flat bars l8, isarranged on edge in radial planes. The bars l8 of each pair are equallyspaced with respect to the angle irons between which they lie, and thespacing between the bars of each pair is just suihcient to permit ajetting pipe, l9 to be placed between them. Thus there are four of thesejetting pipes spaced 90 apart, as are the four cranks on the crank shaftA. Each of the 4 and, alternating with the angle irons, pairs of same.As best shown in Fig. 6, there is a passage C extending diagonallythrough the arms and crank pin of a crank unit adjacent to each of themain bearings and intercepting the oil passage B in that bearing. Thejetting pipes are so designed that duringa jetting operation there is: ajet D of cleaning fluid discharged into each of the passages C, thefluid finally reaching the oil passage B and being adapted to escapefrom either end of Other jets E maybe discharged into the latter. radialpassages F in the crank pins; the inner ends of the passages Fcommunicating with the corresponding passage 0.,

There is located above the cage, withinthe 118. asflit-iriettifig pipe23 which is fixed in a film parallel to the other jetting pipes and isadapted to discharge cleaning fluid down upon the crankshaft as a whole.

The front end of the cage may conveniently be preaches the rear end ofthe cage, and holds the shaft against turning movement relatively to thecage whenthe cage is rotated.

The hollow journal member 1 has at its forward end, Just in front of thedisk IS, a conical point or center 25 adapted to enter the usual centerhole in the corresponding end of the crankshaft. The forward end of thecrankshaft, when in the cage, is centered, and the crankshaft isprevented from moving lengthwise, by means of a suitable gate,

carrying a centering point or element to engage with the usliaicenterhole in the front end of the crankshaft. As best shown in Figs. 2,6 and 'l, this gate device comprises a sturdy lever 26 hinged at one endto an ear 2! fixed to and extending forwardly from the ring l4 andextending diametrically across the cage to the opposite side where thereare another pair of ears 28 between which extends and to which is fixeda pin 28.

The free end of the lever terminates in a handle it by means of whichthe lever may be operated. Close to this handle on the lever 26 is aforward projection 8! which is embraced in a jaw 32 on the endof alatching lever 36; the latching lever being secured to the lever 26 by apin 35. A hook 355 is formed as a rearward projectionon the jaw 32. Thepoint or center which engages the front end of the crankshaft is in theform of a screw 21 extending through the lever 26 and having on the rearside of thelever a conical end 38. The screw has on its outer end a head38 by means'of which it may be turned, and'is also provided, imderneaththe head, with a lock nut 40, adapted to be screwed tightly against thelever 28 and hold the point or center against turning after it has beenproperly adjusted.-

The parts are so proportioned that after a crankshaft has been placed inthe cage, with.

supported by means of a pair of rollers 2| mounted on the ends of afixed support 22 so as to underlie the rim I5 of the forward ring I4, asbest shownin Figs. 3 and 6.

'I'he particular crankshaft for which the cage is designed is such thattwo of the crank units have peripheral edges which, together, formopradial distance between the axis of the cage and the near flanges ofthe angle irons l'l. Therefore,

these angle irons serve as supporting guides for a crankshaft movinginto and out of theopen end of the cage in such angular position thateach of its arc-shaped peripheral surfaces G spans the distance betweena pair of the angle irons. As best shown in Figs. 2, 6 and 7, there aretwo sturdy. guide plates 24, 24 fixed to the disk It and projectingforwardly just below one of the pairs of angle irons II that is spannedby one of the arc-shaped edges G. The members 24 are spaced far eno hapart so that one of the endmost crank arms, indicated at H, is asliding fit between the same; this being one of the arms of a. crankunit provided with the segmental edge G,

the gate swung back out of the way, thehandle 30 may be grasped and thegate unit swungv into working position, with the centerlng 'screw 31engaged with-the-crankshaft. Then, the latching lever 34, which has beenstanding in such pin 29 during such swinging movement of the latchinglever, and holding the lever 12! in its I working position until it isagain unlatched.

A crankshaft to be washed is received on the front platfo'rm,'eitherwith its axis parallel to the axis of the cage, or requiring it to beturned so that it will lie on'the receiving table 4 in that position.The housing door being raised, and the gate at the front end of the cagebeing swung back out of the way, the table may then be pushedrearwardly; the table being provided with rollers 4| resting onparallel, longitudinal tracks or rails? 42 fixed on the stationaryframework of the apparatus. By providing the cage with what may betermed a loading and unloading position, and placing the table at suchan elevation that a crankshaft may be slid from the same upon supportingsurfaces within the cage at the same level as the table; the moving ofthe table into so that whenever the crank is properly positioned,

angularly, to he slid into the cage, the crank arm H moves into thespace between the members 24,

- 24 as the advance end of the crankshaft upthe housing and againstthe'end of the cage,

while the latter occupies said position, prevents one of the pairs oflongitudinal bars ll being at the. bottom, directly below the axis ofthe crankshaft, while two of the angle irons I! lie on opposite sidesthereof and in work-receiving position. It will be seen that the lowerof the two curved edges G, in Fig. 8, touches or practically' touchesthe underlying bars l 8. This pair of bars, as shown in Figs. 6 and '7,extend forwardly a considerable distance beyond the front end of thecage proper and serve as the actual stop for the inward movement of thereceiving table, thereby making it unnecessary to push the receivingtable very far into the housing. As shown in Fig. 2, where the cage isin its loading and unloading position, the pair of bars I! which are nowat the bottom of the cage, lie wholly below the plane of the top of thereceiving table, so that when the first cylindrical edge section G ofthe crankshaft leaves the table, the crankshaft begins to ride on theunderlying bars l8.

As heretofore stated, cleaning fluids entering the passages C finallyescape through the passages B drilled diametrically through the mainbearing portions of the crankshaft. Since the fluids can flow out ofeither end of each of these latter passages, we have found it advisableto control the direction of escape so as to insure that each passagewill be eifectively flushed in both directions. For this purpose. wehave provided means for, at times, closing each end of each ofthepassages in the main bearings, so that liquids are compelled to leaveat the other end.

In the arrangement shown, the cage is provided with three pairs ofmovable stopper devices, one for each main bearing. Each of thesedevices comprises. a rocker member 44 pinned,

as indicated at 45, to a suitable bracket 46 spanning and welded to apair of longitudinal bars l8. On one end of each of these members is astopper or plug 47 of suitable yieldablematerial which is adapted toengage with the corresponding main bearing over one end of the oilpassage B in thelatter, when free to do so. This may be accomplished bymeans of a spring 48 acting on. the member 44 and tending constantly toswing the latter into its working position.

Two of these stopper devices are disposed symmetrically with respect toeach main bearing,

so that each cooperates with one end of the oil passage, to close thesame. In order to cause the stopper devices to be swung into inoperativeor idle positions, I provide stationary segmental tracks 49 and 50 closeto the planes in which the rocker members lie; each of these trackshaving an angular length of about 180. Each rocker member has on itssecond end a roller 5| adapted to ride along the inner edge of the trackprovided for the pair of stopper devices to which that rocker belongs.It is desirable that all of the oil passages in the main bearings beopen at both ends when the cage is in its loading and unloadingposition, so as to provide maximum .facilities for drainage just befbrea crankshaft is removed from the cage. Therefore, as shown in Fig. 8,the tracks 49 and 50 are so disposed that the rollers on all of therocker members are in engagement with the corresponding tracks and theplugs or stoppers are, accordingly, held clear of the crankshaft. Itwill be seen that the roller of one stopper device of each pair has justentered upon its track while the roller of the other stopper device isjust about to leave the track. Therefore, when the cage revolves, say,in the counterclockwise direction, to the position illustrated in Fig.9, one of the stoppers of each pair remains in its inoperative positionwhile the other drops into engagement with the corresponding mainbearing and closes one end of the oil passage in the latter. Thiscondition continues for about one-half of a revolution of the cage,whereupon the stopped device that was locked in its idle position isreleased and drops against the main bearing and the other stopper deviceis lifted away from that bearing by reason of its rocker engaging withthe track.

The cage may be caused to make any desired number of revolutions duringeach cleaning cycle, and then come to rest in its loading and As bestshown in Figs. 4, 10 and 11, there is undemeath the front platform avertical shaft 52 having at the upper end a radial arm 53 projectinglaterally to the middle of the table '4. 0n the under side of the tableis aroller 54 that lies'in front of the free end of the arm 53. On thelower end of the shaft is another radial arm 55 to the free end of whichis pinned or hinged a long horizontal rod which extends slidabiy througha stationary bracket 51.. Surrounding the rod between the bracket and acollar 58 on the rod is a compression spring 59. On the free .end of therod, beyond the bracket, is a block 68. The parts are so proportionedthat the spring acts constantly on the shaft to hold the arm 53 againstthe roller on the table. The spring is preferably powerful enough toreturn the table .to its normal position upon being released by theworkman after having been pushed partlyinto the housing in loading. Inthe normal position of the table the :block 60 lies at some distancefrom the pedal ii. However, when the table is pushed into the dooropening, the block is carried underneath the front end of the pedal andprevents it from being pressed down. In this way the starting of acleaning cycle by closing the door of the housing is prevented until thetable has been moved out of the door opening and no longer constitutesan obstruction in the path of the closingdoor.

It will thus be seen that we have produced a simple and novel holder forthe work, including effective jetting means, together with a simple andnovel means for bringing apiece of work to the holder, in 'order to loadthe latter, in order to permit effective andeflicient cleaning ofcrankshafts in an apparatus wherein, starting with the closing of thedoor of a housing and ending with the subsequent opening of the door.

an entire cycle of cleaning operations is performed upon theintroduction ofa crankshaft into the holder, followed by themanipulation of a pedal or other actuator for a master controller. Inthe case of an engine crankshaft, aside from washing foreign matter fromthe external surfaces, the only other cleaning that is required is toinsure clear oil passages. Therefore, by dissages, while rotating thecrankshaft, and simultaneously' spraying cleaningliquid over theexterior of the crankshaft as a whole, all chips, oil

and other foreign matter may be eifectively washed away; particularlywhen the passages that extend diametrically through the main bearingsare opened and closed at one end while being closed and opened at theopposite end. Changing from .a liquid cleaning fluid to a gaseous fluidat a predetermined point in the cycle insures the blowing away of anyparticles of foreign matter that may still remain, and dries up themoisture on the crankshaft, so as to protect the crankshaft againstdusting.

While we have illustrated and described with particularity only a singlepreferred form of our invention, we do not desire to be limited to theexact structural details thus illustrated and described; but intend tocover all forms and arrangements which come within the definitions 0tour invention constituting the appended claims.

We claim:- I. In combination, a housing having a door opening in oneside, a cage mounted in the hous-v ing for rotation about a more or lesshorizontal axis passing through the door opening and having longitudinalwork-supporting elements, said cage being. open on the side toward thedoor opening to receive work entered through the latter, a receivingtable outside of the housing at the door I opening and at the level ofsaid work-supportand having longitudinal work-supporting elements, saidcage being open on the side toward the door opening to receive workentered through outside of the housing at the door opening-and at thelevel of said work-supporting elements when the cage is in its chargingposition, means supporting the table for movement through said dooropening to bring the rear end thereof close to said work-supportingelements, and a spring tending constantly to return the table to itsnormal position,

- 3. In combination, a housing having a door opening in one side, a cagemounted in the housthe latter, a receiving table normally positioned ingfor rotation about a more or less horizontal axis passing through thedoor opening and having longitudinal work-supporting elements, said cagebeing open on the sidetoward the door opening to receive work enteredthrough'the latter, means on the cage to discharge jets of cleaningfluid against a piece of work in the cage, 9. receiving table outside ofthe housing at the door opening and at the level of said work-supporting elements when the cage is in its charging position, means supportingthe table for movaend thereof close to said work-supporting elements, 9.control member to be moved by an opment through said door opening tobring the-rear aasao'rs erator for controlling the turning of the cageand the supply or fluid tothe jetting means, and an element operated bysaid table to lock said controlling member when the table is in saiddoor opening. I.

4. In an apparatus oi'the character described, a cage open at one endand including a group of horizontal pipes provided with jettingopenings' adapted to discharge cleaning fluid upon a piece of work inthe cage, a hollow journal at the other end of the cage communicatingwith said pipes to supply cleaning fluid thereto, and means includingmovable work-engaging elements mounted on the cage alternately to openand close certain of the openings in the work through which fluid fromthe jettingdevices is adapted to pass.

5. In anapparatusfor cleaningcrankshafts having main bearing portions,holes extending transversely through said main bearing portions, andopen-ended passages forcleaning fluid connected to said holes betweenthe ends 0! the latter: a cage open at one end and including a group ofhorizontal pipes provided with jetting openings adapted to dischargecleaning fluid into said passages in a crank shaft positioned in thecage, means at the other end of the cage to supply cleaning fluid tosaid pipes, and means including movable work-engaging elements mountedon the,

cage, alternately to open and closesaid holes.

6. In an apparatus for cleaning crank shafts having main bearingportions, holes extending transversely through said main bearingportions, and open-ended passages for cleaning fluid connected to saidholes between the ends of the latter: a cage open at one end andincluding a group of horizontal pipes provided with jetting openingsadapted to discharge cleaning fluid into said passages in a crankshaftpositioned in the cage,

-means at the other end of the cage'to supply horizontal pipesdistributed about a common axis and provided with-jetting openingsadapted to discharge cleaning fluid against a crankshaft arranged inthecage with its axis coincident with the aforesaid axis, a hollow journalat the other end of the cage communicating with said pipes to supplycleaning fluid thereto, means on the journal tohold one end of thecrankshait centered in the case. and Kate meansat the open end or thecage having thereon a centering and holding device for the other end ofthe crankshaft. f v

FRED C. AREY.

DE 1.08 E. HIBNER.

